Members of an armed robbery crew, which included three convicted felons, have been arrested after allegedly trying to rob a pharmacy earlier this week as part of a six-week crime spree across Southern California, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced.
Since August, the ATF Orange County Violent Crime Task Force has been investigating several armed robberies of pharmacies across Southern California, the ATF said in a statement. On Oct. 14, at about 4 p.m., the OCVCTF was conducting surveillance in Temecula when they witnessed an attempted robbery at Apollo Pharmacy on Rancho California Road.
A woman, identified as Kamaria Kendrick, 25, of Menifee, was seen wearing a medical mask and hat and walking around the pharmacy building while on her phone, and then driving around several more times.
While Kendrick waited in the vehicle, three men later identified as Aaron Carter, 39, of Fontana; Diamond Lucious, 25, of Victorville; and Isaac Penaldoza, 35, of San Bernardino entered the pharmacy wearing hoods, gloves and masks.
The three ran back to the vehicle and attempted to flee, while the task force attempted to arrest the group. Kendrick, behind the wheel, allegedly struck one of the unmarked law enforcement vehicles. A 9 mm pistol was thrown as the task force personnel stopped the car.
All four were arrested without further incident, officials said.
Over the six weeks, the following pharmacies across three counties were robbed: Delight Pharmacy in Woodland Hills on Aug. 28, Apollo Pharmacy in Temecula on Sept. 13, Mariners Pharmacy Robbery in Newport Beach on Sept. 25, and Fullerton Express Pharmacy in Fullerton, on Sept. 30.
The task force reviewed police reports and surveillance footage and conducted follow-up surveillance, and worked with other law enforcement investigators to identify the suspects believed to be responsible for the robberies.
The similarities of the robberies included three male suspects entering the businesses wearing hooded sweatshirts and face masks, two of which were always armed with handguns and would force employees to the ground, according to the federal affidavit.. They would also steal cash from the register and violently drag employees around the store while the third suspect stashed stolen medications in a trash can from inside the pharmacy.
Carter, Lucious and Penaldoza are all multi-time convicted felons. Carter’s most recent arrest was in Los Angeles in September, where he attempted to evade police while armed with a pistol. He eventually barricaded himself in his vehicle at the end of the pursuit, where he remained for over an hour before surrendering to police. He was booked into county jail before posting bail nine days later, the day before the Newport Beach robbery.
Lucious has been convicted of carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, and various firearms offenses since his first arrested in 2014. He was released from federal prison a year ago and is on federal probation and parole California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Since his first arrest in 1999, Penaldoza has been convicted of sales of narcotics, felon in possession of a firearm, and participating in a criminal street gang.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Butler and Jena A. MacCabe, of the Central District of California, the Violent and Organized Crime Section, are prosecuting this case.
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